Ask the Detailer

So a multiple questions.....
1. I have these black TSS wheels. A centercap flew off last year (thanks dealership maintenance) and it chipped a piece of finish off when it did. Simple way to fix?
2. On same wheels, if you look in the 2nd pic, you see the little "cut out holes" all around the rim of the wheel. Does anyone know of an easier way to clean this than to go into each hole/indention with q-tip or something to clean them?

3. I just found out this morning that my sister-in-law wants me to drive my niece in the homecoming parade in a few weeks. So I'm pretty pumped about that!

 

As far as the nick, a Black Sharpie will help hide it, maybe some nail polish or touch up enamel.

I use a soft wheel brush on those small holes, seems to do ok. Guessing mine may be dirtier than I realize.

Parade Truck!!! Really cool.

 

What wheel brush do you use? I've been pretty skeptical (or more scared) of them afraid they'll scratch the finish on my wheels...especially being that they're black. Anyone else have suggestions, I'm open to them. I've considered a sharpie, but didn't know if the black would match, but I guess it prob would better than nothing....especially how "minor" the piece is. And yea, I'm pretty pumped about the parade....if only I had my lift/wheels/tires on already

 

Nothing fancy, probably walmart or parts house brush, something like this with very soft (hair like) bristles - LOL.

I have sharpied some nicks, hides well enough that you have to look for it.

 

Alright guys I am seeking your help once again. The two trucks below are the same color (Barcelona Red 3R3), mine is the one the left. As you can see mine looks a lot lighter than the one on the right. I got my bumper caps painted, and when comparing them to the paint, the caps look darker, but when I compre them to the paint on the inside part of the door jams it matches perfectly. I asked the body shop guy how I can go about polishing it since I am assuming my paint is a little faded from the sun. He recommended NU Finish. Now my question for you guys, what is the best way to make my truck look like the one on the right? Is Nu Finish the best route or is there a better alternative? I have a DA and have some experience with paint correction. Thanks!

 

Polishing with your DA will certainly make it pop, but you’d probably see a huge difference just by doing a paint decontamination with Iron X and clay. The metal in the paint dulls the gloss quite a bit. You can do that in an hour or two, as opposed to spending a whole day polishing.

Add a good sealant and / or wax, and yours will look just as good or better than that one.

The Hydro2 / Beadmaker combo is easy and produces great results. I bet the other one just has a good wax on it unless it’s newer or he’s done a full correction.

Polishing will certainly solve your problem, but I’d recommend giving that a try first and see what you think. It’s a good idea to decontaminate the paint before polishing anyway.

I’ve never used Nu Finish, so I can’t comment on that.

 

Nu Finish is more of a "As seen on TV" type of product.

 

Thanks for the response! I will do the iron x and clay in these upcoming weeks.

Is there a sealant that you recommend? I have some Jescar powerlock, i have not used it but i bought a bottle of it.

I also have not used hydro2/ beadmaker. Are those sealants? I will do some research on them as well.

 

Ahh i see, ok so that will be going back to Amazon lol

 

If you’ve already got Powerlock, you’re good on sealant. It’s an awesome, long lasting product. Hydro2 and Beadmaker are sealants, but no need to get them if you have Powerlock.

If the Powerlock doesn’t give as much gloss as you want, put some wax on top of it. The most popular wax to use on top of Powerlock is Collinite 845. These two products are known to work very well together. Just let the Powerlock cure for a few hours before putting the wax on.

 

Jescar Powerlock will do the job...also consider topping with with Jescar Colorlock to add a little depth to the color

 

Awesome I will have to order some collinite. So now I have the iron x, clay, sealant and wax. However as for the polishing, I have some meguiars ultimate polish and ultimate compound. Would these be best polishes and compounds to use?

 

Don’t forget the clay. You can get some normal clay at an auto part store or Walmart, but the Nanoskin mitt is much easier and reusable.

I haven’t figured out what the best polish and compound is yet, but from what I’ve read those are good products.

@Pudge used Meguair’s compound and polish, along with Powerlock on his big project a couple of months ago.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/detailing-project-1995-chevy-1500-w-t.49843/

 

I really liked working with the meguiars M105 and M205. That is their flagship compound and polish. They are inexpensive for what they are and the amount of work they can get done. They are older technology products but work very well. My only complaint is they both tend to produce a lot of dust.
I have used both of meg's "ultimate" compound and polish and I wasn't a fan. They work okay but not as good as the older 105 and 205. The ultimate line of products seems to be geared towards amateur DIYers, which most of us are, myself included but there are better products out there. The upside to the ultimate line is that its cheap,, very cheap so you won't have to spend a lot to get pretty damn good results. They are also very easy to use, they have diminishing abrasives which gives you a super long working time and pretty much eliminates the possibility that you will overwork the polish and damage your paint. I found them to also be kind of oily but I assume that is on purpose to add lubrication and prolong working time.
So long story short, no those arent the best polishes to use, but they are very good and will likely yield the results you are looking for.

For my truck I have tried a few and found that I like carpro clear cut compound and carpro essence extreme gloss is what works best for me. I also found that Scholls s20 black is a really good polish that I would highly recommend and will definitely use again.
The megs M105 and M205 are also very good, especially for the price and availability.

 

What do you guys use for cleaning the inside of the windshield?

 

Invisible glass.

 

Surprisingly, I've been impressed with "Invisible Glass". Safe on tinted windows, doesn't streak, and works surprisingly well. Tint shop recommended it and have used it on my windows on vehicles and house. Super cheap, so it kinda surprised me

 

Do you spray directly onto the glass or onto mf first? I have some invisible glass and it looked fine after use, but the next day I noticed a lot of streaks remained. Maybe too much of that vapor buildup?

 

I do a quick spray zig zag. It comes to about 3 lines across the windows (side windows). I personally don't spray the MF rag

 

Is Meg's Hot Rims wheel/tire cleaner essentially an iron remover? Just a thought that since it's safe to use on painted wheels, then should be safe all around? Would definitely be a much cheaper option than Iron X.

 

Use this.

https://www.eagleone.com/black-plasti-coat-wheel-cleaner-23oz

 

I've seen a few yt vids comparing this to carpro ironx, I might give it a shot. It seems to be a pretty close substitute for 75% of the cost. I'll use carpro on my truck and eagle one on my son's car.

 

I can’t speak for these specifically but I’ve tried a few wheel cleaners that were recommended as iron removers, and just didn’t get the results I do with Carpro or Optimum.

 

Good to know that others had the same idea.

 

Yes sir, I’ve read that some work just as well as Iron X, mainly Adams Wheel Cleaner. I didn’t get the same results.

 

I mean, it's $8. Price to performance is there with the Eagle One. It's not a pro detailing product for chemical decon, but it does work.

 

I tried that eagle one wheel cleaner a couple weeks ago and I think I posted something up about it. I figured in would try it cuz my wheels are plasti dipped. It was okay, it definitely had some IronX like ingredients. It doesn't work nearly as well as IronX but it did have that reddish purple runoff. For the price it's okay for wheels, well plasti dipped wheels. But I don't think it would work nearly as well as IronX on paint. I have tried gyeon iron remover on my truck cuz I got it cheap and it worked well, but was a far cry from good old IronX by carpro. I will try Opt iron and fallout cleaner if I can get a deal, I hear it's pretty good. I thought I had more pics of this eagle one stuff...I don't unfortunately. I think I got it from walmart.com for around $5 so I went for it. The spray nozzle broke during shipping so that sucked and made it leak and like other iron removers, this shit stinks so a leaking top sucks.
Edit, the spray sucks even if it wasn't broken, and it says foam on the bottle, it doesn't foam at all.
$5 a bottle, I added it to a cart I was getting free shipping on https://www.walmart.com/ip/Eagle-On...AnhBffM2EEAOrofXeX5lONlHWdok0Sz0aAk6XEALw_wcB

 

I have tried this stuff on wheels and it was just okay, see my post above. For $5 a bottle it's not too bad but you will likely need to do 2 or 3 passes with it which will end up costing about as much as IronX. I got some Gyeon iron a couple months ago for cheap and it was good, not quite ironx good but way better than this eagle one stuff. Same goes for Gtechiq iron and fallout. Its pretty damn good and I got some cheap. Carpro Trix is good too, I like that stuff a lot.
Also I hear Opt iron and fallout is good stuff and you can find good deals now and then. I bet that some other manufacturers also make good iron removers, like I said I got Gtechiq and Gyeon on sale and wouldn't hesitate to try another well known brand if it's on sale.

 

Buddy of mine dog jumped in my truck scratched the center console up a bit with his paws. Any advice of making the scratches less noticeable?